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Explainers about the ideas that appear in economic news again and again. Each article takes a few minutes to read and assumes no prior knowledge.
What inflation is and how it is measured
Why the same shopping basket costs more over time, and how one number tries to capture it.
5 min readHow central banks set interest rates
Who decides, what they are trying to achieve and why a decision today shows up in the economy much later.
5 min readGDP explained: what it measures and what it misses
The most famous number in economics, how it is put together and why it does not tell the whole story.
6 min readWhat the unemployment rate really tells us
Who counts as unemployed, how the number is collected and why a low rate does not always mean that finding work is easy.
5 min readWhy supply chains affect everyday prices
How a blocked port or a shortage of parts on the other side of the world ends up on a price tag near you.
5 min readHow to read an economic headline calmly
Six questions to ask before a dramatic headline changes your view of the economy.
4 min read